Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

I spun to face Jude. “It wasn’t a real proposal.”

He gripped the back of his neck and clipped, “A fake proposal, then. That’s good to know.” Only he said it in a way that said that it really wasn’t good to know.

Nerves buzzed in my stomach and, as they seemed to do so often with Jude, escaped in the form of words. “I was just trying to save some money, so I asked him to move in.”

Jude’s eyes darkened—in the scary way.

“I mean…not like that. We would have had separate bedrooms and sneak people in in the middle of the night. I’m not his type anyway. Full disclosure: I thought he was hot when I first met him, because look at him.” I pointed toward Johnson.

Utter disbelief flashed on Jude’s face.

Uh Oh. I kept rambling. “But then we started spending time together and it turned into something totally different.”

“Right,” Jude snapped.

Shit! “No! Not that kind of different. I mean, we’re tight, but I’ve never seen him naked. Except that one time…”

I thought his eyes would bulge from his head.

I waved the rest of the thought off. “You know what? That doesn’t even count. It was an accident.”

Johnson chuckled behind me.

How could I write one-hundred-thousand-word novels but not string together a complete thought to explain my relationship with Johnson. What the hell was wrong with me?

Oh, right. Jude.

“He likes men!” I finally blurted.

Jude blinked, and Johnson let out a burst of curses.

“Which…there’s nothing wrong with.” Why can’t I shut up! “I just don’t have the right equipment for that. But that’s okay. Once I got to know him, I quickly realized that he wasn’t my type, either. Not to say that he’s not a real catch. He’d make someone a great husband. Unfortunately, his boyfriend didn’t realize that and cheated on him about a year ago.”

“Jesus Christ,” Johnson mumbled.

Jude’s eyebrows popped up in an unbelievably sexy display of shock.

Surprise, surprise. My mouth kept moving. “I still want to egg his house, but Johnson refuses to take me.”

Suddenly, Jude’s mouth twitched and his face gentled.

“Rhion, stop fucking talking,” Johnson growled.

“I can’t!” I slapped a hand over my mouth.

“I think what she means is we aren’t together, Levitt. I’m her bodyguard.”

Jude’s lips turned up in a full grin as I nodded, my face so hot with embarrassment it was a wonder I didn’t spontaneously combust. “Yeah. That,” I mumbled from behind my hand.

“Paragraphs,” he grunted, tugging me against his chest.

I went willingly, keeping my mouth closed. Partially because I feared what else would come out. Partially because, as his arms folded around me, my nerves faded away.

“Now that we’ve got my life story out of the way, someone wanna to fill me in on what the fuck is going on here?” Johnson demanded.

“Well, ” I started.

“Quiet, Butterfly,” Jude rumbled as his arms flexed around me.

My breath caught in my throat. Butterfly. I didn’t even care that it had been preceded by a rude order to be quiet. He was sober. And I was still Butterfly.

Oh my God.

I curled in closer, a huge smile splitting my mouth.

“I got drunk,” he announced to Johnson. “Went back to Rhion’s on Friday night. I don’t remember much. And she’s refusing to fill me in. But, as you can see, some things happened between us. But, if what Rhion so eloquently told me about you two is true, then none of it’s your concern.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Everything to do with her is my concern.”

Uh oh.

“I’m starving!” I said on a rush. “We should probably get inside before all the food’s gone.” I grabbed Jude’s hand and started toward the door.

Only Jude was huge and had me by a lot of inches and a lot of pounds. So, instead of following me in, he remained rooted in place.

“Come on. I bring breakfast so I can hang out with the guys every Friday morning. Besides, don’t you have a team meeting?” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder and partitioned my mouth off with a hand while saying loudly, “I hear the boss is a real dick if you’re late.”

Jude’s lips did that twitch I was quickly falling in love with, and when I released a dreamy sigh, it transformed into a full grin.

“I do have a meeting,” he confirmed.

“Maybe we can talk tonight? I could make dinner,” I offered, hope swirling inside me.

“I can’t.”

“Oh. Um…that’s okay. Some other time.”

“Val. She’s flying in tonight,” he stated as if I should have remembered.

“Oh, right. The phone call.” I smiled sheepishly. “Is she by chance a Pomeranian?”

He laughed. “What? No. She’s my stepdaughter.”

My hand jumped to my mother’s diamond as I quietly asked, “Like your wife’s daughter?”

He smirked knowingly and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Ex-wife’s daughter.”

“Oh,” I breathed.

“Let’s get you inside and out of the cold,” he said, placing a hand on the small of my back to guide me with him.

I strategically avoided Johnson’s gaze. I’d deal with his shit later. Right then, I had Jude—my Jude, not the asshole Jude. I was going to take full advantage of it.

When we got inside the office, Jude’s smile fell away almost as fast as his hand.

I hated it because all I wanted to do was walk in and introduce my new guy to all of my friends. However, they were his coworkers and Jude didn’t seem like the type who would be big on PDA. Not to mention that teensy, tiny problem: He wasn’t actually my new guy.

Not yet, anyway.

For ten minutes, I felt Jude watching me as I made my way around the room, exchanging hugs and conversation with everyone. He kept his distance, but it was always the same distance. I moved. Jude moved with me. It was kind of sweet.

When I’d finished making my rounds, I sat down and went to work on a blueberry muffin. Jude walked past the two chairs on either side of me and settled into the one at the end of the table. Turning to the side, he crossed his long legs ankle to knee.

I bit my lip to stifle a laugh. He was wearing one navy dress sock and one black.

“You know,” I said, sliding down the table with my plate until I was in the chair beside him. “Avoiding me is going to ping on more radars than just talking to me.”

“Two sentences. I’m impressed. And I’m not avoiding you. I’m observing.”

“Funny. I’m observing you too.” I pointed to his socks.

“Shit,” he rumbled.

“Looks like someone got dressed in the dark.”

He uncrossed his legs and shoved them under the table. “Actually, I’m colorblind.”

“Oh crap. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s not a big difference. Really. No one will notice.”

“Relax. I was kidding. I got dressed in the dark.” Slowly, he tipped his head back, revealing a mouth-watering smile and a pair of green eyes dancing with humor.

I glanced up and saw Devon standing across the room, carefully studying our exchange. His forehead was wrinkled in concern, but when he saw he’d been busted, he shot me a wink.

Jude saw this too.